Rob"NoOne" Wash: an Introduction

I am proud to announce that we have a third voice to join The Sophist, Rob “NoOne” Wash. Rob is an unabashed hardcore PC player. So much so that he disdains us “lesser” gamers who partake in the pleasures of console games. While most of his anti-console comments are in jest, he does feel that the PC is the end all be all of gaming. As Convinced that the Zombie Apocalypse is just around the corner as I am, Rob has been a long standing friend of mine. His blend of insightful and comedic entries will be a most welcome addition to The Sophist. ~Aaron

I don’t care who knows it, I’m way excited about FarCry 2. I’m all about the “sandbox” style of gameplay now. My favorites are Hitman, GTA, and of course FarCry and Crysis both. I like getting to solve the problem my way, exploiting the environment (I like to blow up barrels,) and realism (even when it makes the game a little frustrating and difficult.)

So you can imagine how FarCry 2 appeals to me. Christ, I feel like they made it just for me. I’m so excited about it, I fucking bought it. That’s right. I’m a man who torrented Crysis, Bioshock, and COD4. I shoplifted Doom 3 and I stole Civilization 4 right out of the hands of a grade school kid. Now I paid full price for this game a week before it even came out. And why? It’s not just the mechanics and playstyle, but the themes as well. Here’s what I mean:

By the time you’re through one of these FPS games, it doesn’t matter which one, you have probably killed close to 1000 enemies (Nazi soldiers, aliens, or a mixture of the two.) Realistically considered, you are a mass murderer. I don’t care if you were doing it to save the world or whatever. Games usually try to skirt the issue by rationalizing your near-genocide in that way. FarCry 2 seems like it will do that too: you’re after ‘The Jackal,” a ruthless arms dealer who’s war profiteering is destroying [Central African Nation X.] So carving a bloody swathe through soulless mercenaries to get to him seems justified. Fine, I’m a good guy. But you know what? I bet by the time I’ve beaten the game, I will have burned to death at least one person over diamonds.

See, the character is any FPS game is only as vicious as you are, and I don’t know about you, but put a mouse and keyboard in front of me and I’d give Pol Pot a run for his money. The point is I love how video games are moving on to subject matter that reflects the ruthlessness of the individual playing it.

But is FarCry 2 going to live up to its expectations? As my friend Aaron “the Sophist” Rivers put it, “If this game sucks then at least they have the greatest PR department ever.” And he’s right. It almost can’t suck. The first person perspective is constant, no cut scenes or jumps in animation getting into a car or something. The AI is sharp as a tack, enemies do stuff like track your footprints and help their wounded comrades. The guns jam and wear out over time (flashback to almost done Half-Life 2 and I’m like: “I just put about 500 rounds through this shotgun and it still works? The firing pin would have melted like a popsicle by now.”) And the best part: I still get exploding barrels; the world is entirely interactive (which is just a euphemism for ‘destructible.’)

I’ll play through the game and do everything I can. I’ll kill the Jackal, I’ll save Africa. Fine. But I have one other goal in the game: make a giraffe step on a landmine. Now I don’t know if there are giraffes or landmines in the game, but from what I’ve seen it’s a reasonable assumption. If I have to settle for mortaring a wildebeest, I’ll take it, but know that it will lower the game’s final letter grade. This isn’t an arbitrary mission. It’s a post-modern expression demonstrating to what extent FarCry 2 is an “open-world,” game where you get to choose what happens. Now if I can just wait until Wednesday…

P.S. “The Rebel” guy in the trailer says, “We want our enemies to die in the streets, not recover in a hospital with a pretty nurse at their side.” That’s how I feel! ~Rob “NoOne”